Be Kind Rewind

So we rented Be Kind Rewind last week and loved it.  The movie was a good concept, but even if I didn't like it I think I still would have a greater appreciation for the director, Michel Gondry.  Gondry also did Dave Chappelle's Block Party.  Be Kind Rewind takes on the same spirit of Block Party where the cast and crew of the movie embraced the neighborhood in which the movie took place.  Watching the DVD extra feature about the movie you see how the movie takes place in the real life small town in New Jersey, which due to economic difficulties is not what it once was.  It seems as though everyone that wanted to be a part of the movie was given that chance and what is more admirable is that the actors don't seem to have spent their time on the set locked away in trailers, but rather hanging out with the people.  I understand that not every movie can be made like this what with crazy stalkers and huge multimillion dollar stars like Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise.  However, it is nice to see movies that are able to allow real people to connect with the stars. 

Similarly with Gran Torino the casting for the Hmong people was exclusively for real life Hmong individuals.  The casting call was held specifically in cities with large Hmong populations.  The Hmong cast was largely made of first time actors and they were encouraged to improvise their dialogues when speaking in Hmong.  Clearly both movies found innovative ways to incorporate "real" people into the movies and I hope more movies follow this lead.